Chronic pain – defined as pain that lasts for more than three months – is debilitating, common, and often proves very difficult to treat. Doctors split pain into two camps. Secondary pain is linked to an underlying condition so it is … Read More
Ground-breaking therapy that’s easing the pain, stress and trauma of throat cancer
Cancer of the throat – oropharyngeal cancer – very often starts off as a sore throat that goes on and on, or a lump in the throat and coughing up blood. It was usually caused by smoking or alcohol, but HPV, the … Read More
Experts divided over wearing face masks outside – should we be wearing them?
People wearing masks outside can make you feel intimidated. You are often left wondering why they are sporting one when the chances of infection there are very slim. For some people it’s probably a security blanket – but is there … Read More
It’s time to sort out the health inequality of women and kids exposed by Covid
Covid has drawn attention to the health inequalities which have plagued women and children for years. But a new approach is emerging to change the outdated paternalistic views which are sadly still current. Things need to change because women’s and … Read More
Royal College of Surgeons is short on diversity and out of step with society
The older, more conservative members of the medical profession have been known to remain entrenched in their ideas, and it can prove an uphill task to shift them from their backwards looking, old-fashioned ways. Nowhere is that more true than … Read More
Covid vaccine benefits still outweigh risks and there’s no proof any cause blood clots
So far, medicine regulators in the UK, US and Europe have all agreed that the potential benefits of Covid vaccination far outstrip the potential harms. It’s very reassuring. But for people under 30, there is a low risk. And who … Read More
Malaria vaccine in sight to protect children as 400,000 people die each year
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine team isn’t resting on its laurels. It’s now moved on from Covid and is focusing its skilled attention on malaria. Despite many efforts, malaria has proven to be elusive from vaccine control and still kills 400,000 people … Read More
Fears Covid could turn into a disease of poverty by entrenching inequalities
Covid has unmasked poverty to reveal the most appalling inequality, at home and abroad. Here in the UK we can see with our own eyes the inequalities in treatments, vaccination rates, deaths and education. Abroad, catastrophic repercussions of overcrowding and … Read More
Why we must do everything we can to guard against airborne particles of Covid
As time goes on we are learning more and more about the transmission of coronavirus, especially in airborne particles – basically by breathing in the virus from the air. When we do that we’re inhaling “aerosols”. Distance is important here … Read More
Covid vaccine booster jab this summer will help UK avoid a brutal winter surge
The idea of having booster jabs isn’t a new one. We have (or should have) boosters of flu vaccine every year and anyone who travels abroad would be well-advised to have a tetanus booster every five years. So the idea of a … Read More